Aligning machines for bag closing units



5 Sheets5heet 1 M H M T H m M I'll 'l l'l 'l I I I I I I I I I l I |||||I| I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I III-J I d M I@ @1 km 5 @Qw M I INVENTOR. JOHN D. MERE/FIELD BY %x% ATTORNEY Aug. 30, 1966 .J. D. MERRIFIELD ALIGNING MACHINES FOR BAG CLOSING UNITS Filed Oct. 21, 1963 Aug. 30, 1966 J. D. MERRIFIELD ALIGNING MACHINES FOR BAG CLOSING UNITS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 21, 1963 I N VEN TOR. JOHN D. MERE/FIELD ATTORNEY 30, 1966 .1. D. MERRIFIELD 3,269,093

ALIGNING MACHINES FOR BAG CLOSING UNITS Filed Oct. 21, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet Z5 Hull ATTORNEY P O Patented August 30, 1966 3,269,093 ALIGNING MACHINES FQR BAG CLGSING UNETS John D. Merrifield, 4% N. 9th St, Rocky Ford, Colo. Filed Oct. 21, 1%3, Ser. No. 317,447 9 Claims. (Cl. 53-393) This invention relates to bag closing machines and more particularly to a feeder for straightening, aligning and feeding bags to a bag closing machine. Such machines conventionally comprise a belt conveyor which conveys a continuous series of upright, filled bags beneath and through a closure unit which closes and fastens the tops of the filled bags as they are carried forward by the conveyor. The closure unit may be a sewing machine to stitch the bag tops or an adhesive-applying press to adhesively seal the tops.

More recently, the art employs what are known as pinch bottom bags, that is, single or multi-wall, paper bags, the bottoms of which are sealed by folding over the lower extremity and sealing it in place with a hot melt adhesive. The tops of the latter bags, when filled, are conveyed through a hot melt applicator, thence folded over and passed between heating elements and compres sion roll to adhesively seal the tops of the bags. This invention is applicable to any of the types of bag sealing machines but is more particularly applicable for feeding bags to the latter type of closure unit.

It has been found ditficult to horizontally align the tops of the filled bags with the closure unit to obtain uniform closures. The bags, after they leave the filling spout of a bagger unit, will tend to sag or settle, incline or tilt as they travel forward on the conveyor to the closure unit so that the tops do not enter in perfect horizontal alignment, without continuous manual attention and adjustment.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a bag aligning machine to be positioned over the infeed conveyor between the bagger unit and the closure unit which will: automatically raise bag tops that are too low; lower bag tops that are too high; and level bag tops which are tilted from the horizontal, as they approach the closure unit so that perfect uniform closures will be attained without manual attention.

Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of the invention, which is designed for simplicity, economy, and efficiency. These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof. in all views of the drawing and throughout the description.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front view of the upper, operative portion of the automatic bag aligning machine of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear view thereof; and

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-section therethrough taken on the line 33, FIG. 1.

The electrical circuits of the machine, the infeed conveyor, and the bag-closure unit are conventional and have been omitted from the drawings.

The bag-aligning elements of this aligning machine are supported above the conventional infeed conveyor of a bag-closure unit by any suitable supporting frame structure. As illustrated, the supporting frame structure consists of two upright, parallel, structural teel end frames 10 and 11 joined by horizontal cross beams 12 and supporting a top plate 13. A bearing bar 14 extends horizontally across and between the front edges of the two end frames 10 and 11 and is secured at its extremities thereto in any desired manner, such as, by means of suitable bolts 15. An open-backed mechanism box 16 is mounted horizontally across and between the end Like numerals refer to like parts frames below the bearing bar 14 and is fixedly secured in place such as by means of suitable angle clips 17 and attachment bolts 18.

A plurality of shaft bearings 19 are mounted in uniform spaced relation and in horizontal alignment along the front and back of the bearing bar 14 by means of suitable mounting bolts 29. Each of the bearings 19 on the front of the bearing bar is aligned with a similar bearing on the rear thereof to provide a supporting journal for a plurality of, preferably seven, similar, relatively short, sprocket shafts 21 which project horizontally, forwardly and rearwardly from each pair of aligned bearings 19. A chain sprocket 22 is mounted on the .rear portion of each of the shafts 21 and an endless drive chain 23 is trained alternately over and under each of the sprockets 22 (as shown in FIG. 2) so that adjacent sprockets 22 and their shafts 21 will be rotated in opposite directions.

The chain 23 returns above the sprockets 22 over an idler pulley or sprocket 24 supported from the end frame Ml upon a bracket plate 25. A driven belt pulley Z6 is mounted on the rear extremity of one of the shafts 21. As illustrated, the pulley 26 is mounted on the right-most shaft 21, when viewed from the front, and is driven through the medium of a V-belt 27 from a drive pulley 23 on a conventional speed reducer 29 carried by an electric motor 34 mounted on the top plate 13.

The sprocket shafts 21 are connected by means of flexible shafts 31 to the bag-aligning assemblies of the machine. As illustrated, there are three similar bag-aligning assemblies. Each bag-ali ning assembly comprises two hinged roller plates 32 separated by an outer bean ing block 37 and two fixed roller plates 33 separated by an inner bearing block 33. The two pairs of roller plates are: clamped against opposite sides of their respective bearing blocks by means of suitable clamp bolts 5d; are hingedly joined at the top by a suitable hinge bolt 34; and are constantly urged toward each other by a tension spring 35 which is tensioned between attachment pins 36 on the respective roller plates 32 and 33.

The bearing blocks 37 and 38 vertically and rotatably support outer and inner roller shafts 39 and 4t), respectively. An outer bag gripping roller 41 is fixedly mounted on the lower extremity of the outer roller shaft 39 and a similar inner bag gripping roller 42 is fixedly mounted on the lower extremity of the inner roller shaft 4%. The rollers 41 and 42 are positioned in the same plane so that they will press against opposite sides of a bag top, such as shown at 43, of a conventional bag, such as indicated at 44 in FIG. 3, under the resilient tension of the spring 35.

The two roller shafts of each aligning assembly are connected to adjacent sprocket shafts 21 so that the two bag gripping rollers of each assembly will rotate in opposite directions to urge the bag top 43 forwardly as the bag 44- is carried forwardly by the conventional input conveyor. The plane of the rollers 41 and 42., which will be herein designated as the roller plane, can be inclined upwardly or downwardly from the horizontal position so as to urge the bag top upwardly or downwardly as it travels forwardly.

This is accomplished by fixedly mounting, the two fixed rollers plates 33- of each bag aligning assembly upon the forward extremity of a horizontal tilt shaft 46, as indi cated at 45. The tilt shafts 4d extend through aligned bearings 47 mounted on the front of the box 16 in the plane of the gripping rollers 4d and 42. The tilt shafts extend into the box 16 where they terminate, in T-shaped relation, in rocker arms 48 which are affixed thereon and extend oppositely outward therefrom in the roller plane. Each rocker arm is tilted to and from a horizontal position by a pair of solenoids 49 and St The plungers of the solenoids, indicated at 51, are connected by means of adjustable-length connecting links 52 to wrist bolts 3 in the opposite extremities of the rocker arms 48. Thus, it can be seen that if the first solenoid 4-9 be energized, it will attract its plunger and tilt the roller plane of that assembly at a downward angle in the direction of travel of the bag tops and if the second solenoid 50 of that pair be energized, the roller plane will be similarly tilted upwardly. When neither solenoid is energized, the rocker arm 48 will balance horizontally to maintain the roller plane horizontal.

The electric current to the two solenoids of each bag aligning assembly is controlled by a single pole, doublethrow, mercury switch 54 mounted on a tilting lever 55 secured on the inner extremity of a feeler shaft 56. The feeler shaft 56 extends forwardly through an elongated horizontal bearing sleeve 57 mounted in the front of the box 16 and terminates in an inclined, downwardly extending feeler flap 58 positioned above the path of the bag tops 43 so as to be contacted by the latter as they travel into each bag-aligning assembly. The weight of the tilting levers 55 and their mercury switches 54 constantly urges the feeler flaps downwardly into the path of the bag tops.

The mercury switch 54 of each bag aligning assembly is connected in the circuits of the two solenoids 49 and 50 so that when the tilting lever 55 is horizontal no current will flow, but if the tilting lever be tilted upwardly from the horizontal position, current will flow to the first solenoid 49 to tilt the roller plane downwardly and if the tilting lever 55 be tilted downwardly from the horizontal position, current will flow to the second solenoid St to tilt the roller plane upwardly.

Thus, should a low bag top encounter the first feeler flap 58, the mercury switch will energize the solenoid 50 to incline the roller plane upwardly so as to lift the bag top as it travels between the gripping rollers. If the bag top or the leading or trailing edge thereof be too high when it approaches the second bag aligning assembly, the feeler flap of that assembly will be forced upwardly to tilt the second roller plane downwardly. This will be repeated at the third assembly where a final leveling at the proper plane will be accomplished. If the bag tops are entering along the correct plane, the feeler flaps will be supported at a height to maintain the mercury switches level so that no current will flow to the solenoids and the roller planes will remain horizontal.

Thus, it can be seen that the bag tops will be automatically levelled and will discharge from this aligning machine to the bag closure unit on a uniform plane.

While specific forms of the invention have been described and illustrated herein, it is to be understood that the same may be varied within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A bag-top-aligning machine for bag closing units of the type having an infeed conveyor for conveying a continuous series of substantially vertical, filled bags along a horizontal path into the bag closing unit comprising:

(a) a supporting frame;

(b) a pair of substantially vertical roller shafts supported from said frame and adapted to be positioned on opposite sides, respectively, of the path of said bags;

(c) a top-gripping roller mounted on each roller shaft, said rollers being positioned in a common roller plane;

(d) means for urging said rollers toward each other so as to grip a bag-top therebetween;

(e) means for driving the roller shafts in opposite directions so that the rollers will advance the gripped bag-tops forwardly; and

:(f) means for tilting said .roller shafts forwardly and rearwardly to tilt said roller plane in the direction of advancement to bring said tops to a desired horizontal plane.

A bag-top-alignillg machine as described in claim 1 in which the means for tilting said roller shafts comprises:

(a) a tilt shaft rotatably and horizontally supported by said supporting frame;

(b) roller plates mounted on said tilt shaft carrying hearings in which said roller shafts are journalled; and

(0) electrical actuating means connected with said tilt shaft for reciprocally rotating the latter for tilting said roller plane in the desired direction.

3. A bag-top-a ligning machine as described in claim 2 having:

(a) a feeler element movably suspended in the path of said bag-tops to be contacted by the latter as they advance forwardly; and

(b) electrical switching means in circuit with said electrical actuating means for energizing the latter in consequence of the movements of said feeler element for tilting said roller plane in correspondence with the height of said bag tops.

4. A bag-top-alignin-g machine as described in claim 1 having a plurality of pairs of the described roller shafts and rollers supported by said frame in alignment with the path of said bags to successively receive said bagtops.

5. A bag-top-aligning machine as described in claim 4 in which the means for driving the roller shafts in opposite directions comprises:

(a) a bearing bar secured to and extending horizontally of said suporting frame above said roller shafts;

(b) a plurality of horizontal sprocket shafts journalled in said bearing bar;

(c) a flexible shaft connecting each of said sprocket shafts to one of said roller shafts;

(d) a drive sprocket on each sprocket shaft;

(e) a drive chain trained alternately under and over said drive sprockets to simultaneously rotate all adjacent sprockets in opposite directions; and

(f) motor means for rotating one of said sprocket shafts.

6. A bag-top-aligning machine as described in claim 2 in which the electrical means for reciprocally rotating said tilt shaft comprises:

(a) a rocker arm mounted on said tilt shaft and extending oppositely outward therefrom;

(b) a pair of electrical solenoids, each arranged when energized to attract a plunger; and

(c) a connecting link connecting each of said plungers to one extremity of said rocker arm so that alternate energization of said solenoids will rotate said til-t shaft back and forth.

7. A bag-top-aligning machine as described in claim 3 in which the electrical switching means comprises:

(a) a feeler shaft rotatably supported by said frame from which said feeler element is fixedly suspended;

(b) a tilting lever atfixed on and extending substantially horizontally from said feeler shaft; and

(c) a tilt switch mounted on said tilting lever and connected in electrical circuit with said electrical actuating means for controlling the latter. I

8. A bag-top-aligning machine for bag closing units comprising;

(a) a supporting frame; p

(b) a bearing supporting member carried by said frame and carrying a horizontally aligned series of spacedapart bearings;

(c) a drive shaft rotatably mounted in each of said bearings;

(d) means for rotating adjacent drive shafts in opposite directions;

(e) tilt shafts supported from said frame below and between adjacent drive shafts and extending forwardly therefrom;

(f) a roller-carriage element mounted on the forward extremity of each tilt shaft;

(g) a pair of substantially vertical roller shafts journalled in each roller carriage element;

(h) a roller mounted on each roller shaft, the rollers of each :pair lying in a common roller plane and positioned to grip opposite sides of a bag-top;

(i) flexible shafts individually connecting adjacent drive shafts to the roller shaft of each pair of roller shafts; and

(j) means for reciprocally rotating said tilt shafts to tilt the roller planes of said rollers to exert lifting 10 and lowering effects upon the gripped bag-tops. 9. A ba-g-top-aligning machine as described in claim 8 in which the means for rotating said tilt shafts comprises:

and extending forwardly to positions adjacent each pair of rollers; I

(b) a feeler flap mounted on and extending downwardly from each feeler shaft to a position to be contacted by a bag-top entering between the pairs of rollers;

(c) an electrical switch actuated by said feeler shaft;

and

( d) solenoids in electric circuit with said switch and operatively connected with said tilt shaft to actuate the latter in consequence of the opening and closing of said switch.

No references cited.

(a) feeler shafts rotatably supported by said frame 15 TRAVIS MCGEHEE, Primary Examiner 

1. A BAG-TOP ALIGNING MACHINE FOR BAG CLOSING UNITS OF THE TYPE HAVING AN INFEED CONVEYOR FOR CONVEYING A CONTINUOUS SERIES OF SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL, FILLED BAGS ALONG A HORIZONTAL PATH INTO THE BAG CLOSING UNIT COMPRISING: (A) A SUPPORTING FRAME; (B) A PAIR OF SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL ROLLER SHAFTS SUPPORTED FROM SAID FRAME AND ADAPTED TO BE POSITIONED ON OPPOSITE SIDES, RESPECTIVELY, OF THE PATH OF SAID BAGS; (C) A TOP-GRIPPING ROLLER MOUNTED ON EACH ROLLER SHAFT, SAID ROLLERS BEING POSITIONED IN A COMMOM ROLLER PLANE; (D) MEANS FOR URGING SAID ROLLERS TOWARD EACH OTHER SO AS TO GRIP A BAG-TOP THEREBETWEEN; 